Referendum in Italy
Encyclopedia
The Constitution of Italy
provides for only two kinds of legally binding referendum
s:
Despite that the constitutional right to hold a popular referendum has existed since the Italian constitution was approved in late 1947, the necessary legislation detailing the bureaucratic procedures needed to have them was not approved until the early 1970s. As a consequence of this, Italy's first popular referendum was not held until 1974, 27 years after the constitution was first approved.
The first constitutional referendum was held in 2001, 54 years after the constitution was approved. All previous constitutional amendments had been approved by the supermajority
of the Parliament
, denying the possibility to call a referendum.
and present a legal identity document
to the committee
(usually a political party) collecting the signatures.
Then, the petition (together with the thousands of pages of voter's personal details and signatures) must then be passed to the Court of Cassation
which examines the validity of all the data. After the signatures are verified the Constitutional Court of Italy
examines subject matter of the petition itself. The court has the power to reject it outright. Many fully valid petitions with the necessary 500,000 signatures have never been accepted as referendums precisely for this reason.
Provided the constitutional court approves the subject matter of the petition, the President of the Republic has to set a date for the vote between April, the 15th, and June, the 15th. The timing can be crucial as turnout at the polling station
s may be much lower in summer months when voters take their holidays and the quorum
required for the referendum to be valid may not be reached. If the government in office falls, voting on the referendums can be delayed by up to a year.
The final hurdle is that the result of the legislative referendum is only valid if at least a 50% + 1 of all eligible electors go to the polling station and cast their ballot
. If this quorum is not met, the referendum in invalid and, in practice, it is a victory for the nays.
The entire bureaucratic process can take more than a year and a half; from the initial gathering of 500,000 signatures in public streets and squares across Italy (which can take several months in itself up to a maximum of three), all the way until electors are called to the polls.
(which the Catholic Church had strongly petitioned for), voters were being asked whether they wanted to abolish a recent law allowing divorce for the first time in Italian history. Therefore those voting "yes" wanted to outlaw divorce as it had been before the law came into effect, and those voting "no" wanted to retain the law and their newly gained right to divorce.
led by Marco Pannella
. They hold the record for most referendums presented. Despite only receiving around 2.5% of the popular vote in most national elections, the numerous referendums they have proposed over the years have often mobilised the entire Italian political spectrum in support or opposition. They will often use unconventional methods such as prolonged hunger strike
s and/or thirst strikes by their leaders to draw attention to their cause. Their largest political battles came in the 1970s and 80's when they successfully campaigned for the right to divorce
and the right to abortion
.
Other groups have also made use of referendums to raise the profile of their own small political parties or their leaders or to raise awareness of their respective political agendas. Signatures for referendums have been collected by parties across the political spectrum from the Northern League opposing a law on immigration in 1998 (this was ruled as inadmissible by the constitutional court when presented), all the way to the Italy of Values party when leader Antonio Di Pietro
collected signatures in 1998 for a change in the electoral law to a full first past the post system. The Italian radical party and the right wing National Alliance were also collecting signatures for the same exact petition on electoral reform at the same time as Di Pietro's party, showing that often parties from vastly different political beliefs will agree on the same themes that they feel should be subject to referendums.
However, often political parties who are even in the same coalition will have very diverse opinions with regard to referendums. A notorious example of this came in 1999 when the right-wing National Alliance
, led by Gianfranco Fini
, was collecting signatures for two referendums to abolish political party state financing and a change in electoral law to a full first past the post system, while the Italian Radicals and Di Pietro's Italy of Values
were also collecting signatures at the same time. Despite spending an enormous amount of manpower and party funds across all of Italy, his main partner in the House of Freedoms
coalition, Forza Italia
, led by former and soon to be Prime Minister Berlusconi, offered no political or financial support. When voting for the referendums took place in 2000, Berlusconi almost abstained and said the vote was "mostly pointless" as he would take care of all reforms when he would return to power.
When the House of Liberties coalition returned to power in 2001, Berlusconi did not abolish political party financing and even reintroduced proportional representation into the electoral law. Critics pointed out that these new measures, approved even with the parliamentary votes of Alleanza Nazionale itself, were proof that Fini and his party had made a complete volte-face
and abandoned some of their core political reforms in order to stay in power. It was also seen as proof that Fini's influence in the coalition was not as strong as many were led to believe.
Criticism has been made with regard to the following:
A notorious example of this is the law on political party financing. The law states that after an election, every political party that has been elected to parliament is entitled to a monetary "refund" (taken from public funds) for every single vote they obtained. The Italian public has voted to abolish this law in legislative referendums in 1978 and again in 1993. Both referendums meet the quorum, but the law was reinstated under different terms. A third legislative referendum was held again in 2000 to abolish party financing but it failed to meet the quorum, however, of those who did vote, over 70% voted to abolish the law for the third time.
Another example of this practice concerns Italy's electoral law. In an effort to move Italy to a more stable form of government with an alternating 2 party system, referendums were held in 1991 and 1993 to abolish laws allowing full proportional representation
in elections to the Italian Parliament. Despite both referendums meeting the quorum, and a new first-past-the-post
electoral system being used in Italian national elections from 1994 to 2001, the Berlusconi government in 2005 partially reinstated proportional representation under a new law.
The practice of successive governments re-introducing laws that have been abolished by the public has been cited as a major factor in voter apathy
in the use of referendums as a democratic tool. Critics allege that this is the main reason that no referendums have been able to meet the quorum since 1997, despite high voter turnout for national and regional elections held in the same years.
: it is therefore not allowed to vote to abolish a tax
, or to pardon a criminal
(note that ancient Rome
used to have exactly such an institution, the provocatio ad populum). Some political parties have asked, unsuccessfully so far, to held a referendum on EU Constitution. However, this is impossible under current legislation, because it's forbidden to hold a referendum about international treaties.
(the Italian Chamber of Deputies
and Italian Senate
) with a majority of less than two thirds in both or either Chamber, and only at the request of one fifth of the members of either House, or 500,000 electors or five regional councils.
In contrast to the popular referendums, the constitutional referendum is confirmatory. This means a "yes" vote means you want to retain the law, whereas voting "yes" in a popular referendum means you want to abolish the law.
In addition, a constitutional referendum is not subject to a quorum and is valid regardless of how many electors go to the polling station.
or establishing a republic
. The republic won by a narrow margin.
The second variation was a consultative referendum held in 1989 in which voters had to express their opinion about conferring a constitutional-drafting role to the European Parliament
. The referendum was held after an ad hoc Constitutional law was adopted.
During the '90s, various law allowing local referendums were approved. Since then, many municipal referendums were called in various cities. A quorum
is generally necessary to approve a local referendum, but it is usually lower than the national quorum, a third of the electors sometimes needing to validate the referendum.
in which voters could cast their ballot at their nearest consulate but only if they had their residence in one of the other 14 EU countries.
Until 2001 the Italian state offered citizens living abroad a free return train journey to their home town in Italy in order to vote, however the portion of the train journey that was free of charge was only on Italian soil. Any costs incurred in getting from their place of residence abroad to the Italian border had to be covered by the citizen wanting to vote, therefore a free return train journey was hardly an incentive
for the large Italian communities living as far away as in the United States
, Argentina
, Brazil
or Australia
. For this reason very few Italians abroad made use of this right to vote, unless they lived in cities and towns that bordered to Italy such as in Germany, Switzerland, France and Austria. Various Italian minorities living abroad (notably in the United States) protested frequently at this lack of political representation especially if they paid taxes on property owned in Italy.
After decades of petitioning and fierce debate, the Italian government, in late 2001, finally passed a law allowing Italian citizens living abroad to vote in elections in Italy by postal ballot. Italians wishing to excise this right must first register their residence abroad with their relevant consulate. The first referendum voted on by Italians living aboard by postal ballot was in 2003.
Constitution of Italy
The Constitution of the Italian Republic was enacted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 December 1947, with 453 votes in favour and 62 against. The text, which has since been amended 13 times, was promulgated in the extraordinary edition of Gazzetta Ufficiale No. 298 on 27 December 1947...
provides for only two kinds of legally binding referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
s:
- a popular referendumPopular referendumA popular referendum is a type of a referendum that provides a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a...
, which can only be called in order to decide on whether to abrogate (i.e. abolish) totally or partially an existing law; - a constitutional referendumConstitutional amendmentA constitutional amendment is a formal change to the text of the written constitution of a nation or state.Most constitutions require that amendments cannot be enacted unless they have passed a special procedure that is more stringent than that required of ordinary legislation...
, which can only be called in order to decide on whether to approve a constitutional law or amendment.
Despite that the constitutional right to hold a popular referendum has existed since the Italian constitution was approved in late 1947, the necessary legislation detailing the bureaucratic procedures needed to have them was not approved until the early 1970s. As a consequence of this, Italy's first popular referendum was not held until 1974, 27 years after the constitution was first approved.
The first constitutional referendum was held in 2001, 54 years after the constitution was approved. All previous constitutional amendments had been approved by the supermajority
Supermajority
A supermajority or a qualified majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level or type of support which exceeds a simple majority . In some jurisdictions, for example, parliamentary procedure requires that any action that may alter the rights of the minority has a supermajority...
of the Parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
, denying the possibility to call a referendum.
Requirements
A popular referendum can be called only at the request five regional councils or 500,000 eligible Italian electors who sign an official validated petitionPetition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....
and present a legal identity document
Identity document
An identity document is any document which may be used to verify aspects of a person's personal identity. If issued in the form of a small, mostly standard-sized card, it is usually called an identity card...
to the committee
Committee
A committee is a type of small deliberative assembly that is usually intended to remain subordinate to another, larger deliberative assembly—which when organized so that action on committee requires a vote by all its entitled members, is called the "Committee of the Whole"...
(usually a political party) collecting the signatures.
Then, the petition (together with the thousands of pages of voter's personal details and signatures) must then be passed to the Court of Cassation
Court of Cassation (Italy)
The Supreme Court of Cassation is the major court of last resort in Italy. It has its seat in the Rome Hall of Justice.The Court of Cassation exists also to “ensure the observation and the correct interpretation of law” by ensuring the same application of law in the inferior and appeal courts...
which examines the validity of all the data. After the signatures are verified the Constitutional Court of Italy
Constitutional Court of Italy
The Constitutional Court of Italy is a supreme court of Italy, the other being the Court of Cassation. Sometimes the name Consulta is used as a metonym for it, because its sessions are held in Palazzo della Consulta in Rome....
examines subject matter of the petition itself. The court has the power to reject it outright. Many fully valid petitions with the necessary 500,000 signatures have never been accepted as referendums precisely for this reason.
Provided the constitutional court approves the subject matter of the petition, the President of the Republic has to set a date for the vote between April, the 15th, and June, the 15th. The timing can be crucial as turnout at the polling station
Polling station
A polling place or polling station is where voters cast their ballots in elections.Since elections generally take place over a one- or two-day span on a periodic basis, often annual or longer, polling places are often located in facilities used for other purposes, such as schools, churches, sports...
s may be much lower in summer months when voters take their holidays and the quorum
Quorum
A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly necessary to conduct the business of that group...
required for the referendum to be valid may not be reached. If the government in office falls, voting on the referendums can be delayed by up to a year.
The final hurdle is that the result of the legislative referendum is only valid if at least a 50% + 1 of all eligible electors go to the polling station and cast their ballot
Ballot
A ballot is a device used to record choices made by voters. Each voter uses one ballot, and ballots are not shared. In the simplest elections, a ballot may be a simple scrap of paper on which each voter writes in the name of a candidate, but governmental elections use pre-printed to protect the...
. If this quorum is not met, the referendum in invalid and, in practice, it is a victory for the nays.
The entire bureaucratic process can take more than a year and a half; from the initial gathering of 500,000 signatures in public streets and squares across Italy (which can take several months in itself up to a maximum of three), all the way until electors are called to the polls.
Confusion in wording
Voters often get confused at the effect their vote will have, as they are being asked to vote "yes" or "no" to abolish an existing law. For example in the 1974 referendum on divorceDivorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
(which the Catholic Church had strongly petitioned for), voters were being asked whether they wanted to abolish a recent law allowing divorce for the first time in Italian history. Therefore those voting "yes" wanted to outlaw divorce as it had been before the law came into effect, and those voting "no" wanted to retain the law and their newly gained right to divorce.
Political party use
The political party in Italy that is most closely associated with, and has made most use of, referendums in the last 40 years is the Radical PartyPartito Radicale
The Radical Party was a political party in Italy. For decades it was a bastion of liberalism and radicalism in Italy and proposed itself as the strongest opposition to the Italian political establishment, which was seen as corrupt and conservative...
led by Marco Pannella
Marco Pannella
Giacinto Pannella, better known as Marco Pannella is an Italian politician.He is the historic leader of the Italian Radicals...
. They hold the record for most referendums presented. Despite only receiving around 2.5% of the popular vote in most national elections, the numerous referendums they have proposed over the years have often mobilised the entire Italian political spectrum in support or opposition. They will often use unconventional methods such as prolonged hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
s and/or thirst strikes by their leaders to draw attention to their cause. Their largest political battles came in the 1970s and 80's when they successfully campaigned for the right to divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
and the right to abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
.
Other groups have also made use of referendums to raise the profile of their own small political parties or their leaders or to raise awareness of their respective political agendas. Signatures for referendums have been collected by parties across the political spectrum from the Northern League opposing a law on immigration in 1998 (this was ruled as inadmissible by the constitutional court when presented), all the way to the Italy of Values party when leader Antonio Di Pietro
Antonio Di Pietro
Antonio Di Pietro is an Italian politician. He was a Member of the European Parliament, an Italian Senator, and Minister of the Prodi Government...
collected signatures in 1998 for a change in the electoral law to a full first past the post system. The Italian radical party and the right wing National Alliance were also collecting signatures for the same exact petition on electoral reform at the same time as Di Pietro's party, showing that often parties from vastly different political beliefs will agree on the same themes that they feel should be subject to referendums.
However, often political parties who are even in the same coalition will have very diverse opinions with regard to referendums. A notorious example of this came in 1999 when the right-wing National Alliance
National Alliance (Italy)
National Alliance was a conservative political party in Italy.Gianfranco Fini was the leader of the party since its foundation in 1995, however he stepped down in 2008 after being elected to the nominally non-partisan post of President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and was succeeded by...
, led by Gianfranco Fini
Gianfranco Fini
Gianfranco Fini is an Italian politician, President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, leader of the center-right Future and Freedom party, and the former leader of the conservative National Alliance and the post-fascist Italian Social Movement...
, was collecting signatures for two referendums to abolish political party state financing and a change in electoral law to a full first past the post system, while the Italian Radicals and Di Pietro's Italy of Values
Italy of Values
Italy of Values is a centrist, populist and anti-corruption political party in Italy. The party, which is affiliated to the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party , is headed by former Mani pulite prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro, who entered politics in 1996.The party aims to gather and give...
were also collecting signatures at the same time. Despite spending an enormous amount of manpower and party funds across all of Italy, his main partner in the House of Freedoms
House of Freedoms
The House of Freedoms , was a major Italian centre-right political and electoral alliance led by Silvio Berlusconi. It was initially composed of several political parties:*Forza Italia *National Alliance...
coalition, Forza Italia
Forza Italia
Forza Italia was a liberal-conservative, Christian democratic, and liberal political party in Italy, with a large social democratic minority, that was led by Silvio Berlusconi, four times Prime Minister of Italy....
, led by former and soon to be Prime Minister Berlusconi, offered no political or financial support. When voting for the referendums took place in 2000, Berlusconi almost abstained and said the vote was "mostly pointless" as he would take care of all reforms when he would return to power.
When the House of Liberties coalition returned to power in 2001, Berlusconi did not abolish political party financing and even reintroduced proportional representation into the electoral law. Critics pointed out that these new measures, approved even with the parliamentary votes of Alleanza Nazionale itself, were proof that Fini and his party had made a complete volte-face
Volte-face
Volte-face is a total change of position, as in policy or opinion; an about-face.The expression comes through French, from Italian voltafaccia and Portuguese volte face, composed of volta and faccia ....
and abandoned some of their core political reforms in order to stay in power. It was also seen as proof that Fini's influence in the coalition was not as strong as many were led to believe.
Criticism
Over the years various criticisms of the legal processes popular referendums are subjected to have been raised, but as of 2007, no reforms have been made to the constitutional law in this aspect.Criticism has been made with regard to the following:
- Number of verified signatures required (500,000) is too high. Critics allege that other democratic countries requirements for referendums are notably lower. SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
is often cited as an example where only 50,000 signatures are required for a nationwide referendum. - Verification of signatures by the constitutional court is too strict. Political parties often collect above and beyond the required 500,000 signatures required for the referendum. This is because each time thousands of signatures presented are deemed invalid by the constitutional court on various grounds.
- The admissibility of the subject matter of each referendum which is determined by the constitutional court is too strict. A poignant example of this came in the year 1999 when the Bonino ListBonino ListBonino List was a strongly libertarian Radical electoral list active in the 1990s and the 2000s in Italy. Named for Emma Bonino, a leading Radical who had been member of the European Commission from 1995 to 1999 , after the unsuccessful "Emma for President" campaign, it was the successor of the...
spent an enormous amount of manpower and funds to collect the necessary signatures for 20 separate referendums. As each referendum was separate and each needed 500,000 signatories, the party presented over 10 million verified signatures to the court. Of these 20, a total of 13 were declared inadmissible by the court and a great portion the party's funds and efforts had been wasted. The party's leader Marco PannellaMarco PannellaGiacinto Pannella, better known as Marco Pannella is an Italian politician.He is the historic leader of the Italian Radicals...
, speaking on the party's radio station (Radio RadicaleRadio RadicaleRadio Radicale is the official radio station of Partito Radicale in Italy.It was founded in the seventies, along with the "Radio libere"....
) shortly after the decision, called the judges on the court "butchers". - The quorum required is anti-democratic. The quorum required to render each referendum valid is by far the most controversial aspect of the law and is the most often cited in critic attacks on the whole legal process. Critics allege that the voter turnout at local, regional and national elections across Italy rarely ever goes past the 80-85% mark. This means that 15-20% of the voting public will never turn up at the polling station in the first place. The remaining 30-35% then fall under the influence of the opinions of the major political parties and reigning institutions, such as the government in office and the Catholic Church. For those political parties or institutions opposed to the referendum being voted on, it is a question of pure numbers. They will call on their supporters to abstain from voting as it is far easier to convince 30-35% of electors to stay home, than is to persuade 50% +1 of electors to go to the polling station and vote "no". Occasionally this will backfire as it did in June 1991 when former Italian Prime Minister and socialist party leader, Bettino CraxiBettino CraxiBenedetto Craxi was an Italian politician, head of the Italian Socialist Party from 1976 to 1993, the first socialist President of the Council of Ministers of Italy from 1983 to 1987.-Political career:...
, called on voters to "go to the beach" rather than vote on reforming Italy's electoral law. Turnout on that occasion reached over 60%. Critics call this an "attack on democracy itself". While voters are obviously free to do as they choose on the day of the referendum, critics say that political parties are applying double standards, firstly asking voters to abstain from going to the polls during referendums and then petitioning for high turnouts during elections for both Italian houses of parliament. Critics have pointed out this defeats the purpose of secret vote, since electoral records of voters at each referendum are kept and are fairly easily accessed. In some cases, rumours have circulated that some anti-democratic employers required their employees' voting cards in their custody during the vote, in an effort to make a referendum fail. In addition, if a referendum fails to meet the quorum, the committee that originally collected the signatures and presented them to the Italian Court of Cassation the will not get any of its expenses refunded. - Timing of the referendums by the government in office easily can skew the quorum. If the government in office is opposed to the referendums it will often arrange a date for the vote that is more likely to have a smaller turnout such as in the summer months or near holiday weekends when most families are away on vacation. Often when choosing the date for the referendum the possibility will present itself of holding the vote on the same day as regional or national elections with substantial savings of costs incurred. Despite the clear possibility of merging the date of the 2 electoral consultations, most ruling governments will set a separate date for referendum, as merging the 2 votes would almost guarantee the quorum being met. This happened in the year 2000 when merging the date of the Italian regional elections and the 7 referendums was possible.
- Inaccurate electoral registers skew the quorum. In 1999 a referendum was held to change Italy's electoral law but the necessary quorum was missed by a margin of less than 0.5%. Subsequent enquiries and investigations after the vote revealed that numerous electoral registerElectoral registerThe electoral roll is a listing of all those registered to vote in a particular area. The register facilitates the process of voting, helps to prevent fraud and may also be used to select people for jury duty...
s across Italy had people's names listed on them who had either moved away long ago or were deceased. Some of these deceased had actually even voted at the polling station leading a further investigation into identity theftIdentity theftIdentity theft is a form of stealing another person's identity in which someone pretends to be someone else by assuming that person's identity, typically in order to access resources or obtain credit and other benefits in that person's name...
. Critical politicians called these "ghost" voters. The Italian government ordered a massive cleanup of the registers across the country. After this was done it emerged that the 1999 referendum would have met the quorum had the registers been accurate in the first place.
Government response
Despite the fact that the results of referendums that meet the quorum are legally binding, successive Italian governments have repeatedly re-introduced laws that are very similar to those that have been abolished by the public. Critics have cited this practice as a blatant disregard of the results of the democratic referendums.A notorious example of this is the law on political party financing. The law states that after an election, every political party that has been elected to parliament is entitled to a monetary "refund" (taken from public funds) for every single vote they obtained. The Italian public has voted to abolish this law in legislative referendums in 1978 and again in 1993. Both referendums meet the quorum, but the law was reinstated under different terms. A third legislative referendum was held again in 2000 to abolish party financing but it failed to meet the quorum, however, of those who did vote, over 70% voted to abolish the law for the third time.
Another example of this practice concerns Italy's electoral law. In an effort to move Italy to a more stable form of government with an alternating 2 party system, referendums were held in 1991 and 1993 to abolish laws allowing full proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
in elections to the Italian Parliament. Despite both referendums meeting the quorum, and a new first-past-the-post
First-past-the-post
First-past-the-post voting refers to an election won by the candidate with the most votes. The winning potato candidate does not necessarily receive an absolute majority of all votes cast.-Overview:...
electoral system being used in Italian national elections from 1994 to 2001, the Berlusconi government in 2005 partially reinstated proportional representation under a new law.
The practice of successive governments re-introducing laws that have been abolished by the public has been cited as a major factor in voter apathy
Voter apathy
In politics, voter apathy is a term used to describe a perceived apathy among voters in an election. Voter apathy is often cited as a cause of low turnout among eligible voters....
in the use of referendums as a democratic tool. Critics allege that this is the main reason that no referendums have been able to meet the quorum since 1997, despite high voter turnout for national and regional elections held in the same years.
Limitations
It is forbidden to call a referendum regarding financial laws, laws relating to pardons, or the ratification of international treatiesTreaty
A treaty is an express agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an agreement, protocol, covenant, convention or exchange of letters, among other terms...
: it is therefore not allowed to vote to abolish a tax
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
, or to pardon a criminal
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
(note that ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
used to have exactly such an institution, the provocatio ad populum). Some political parties have asked, unsuccessfully so far, to held a referendum on EU Constitution. However, this is impossible under current legislation, because it's forbidden to hold a referendum about international treaties.
Requirements
A constitutional referendum can be called only when a constitutional law or constitutional amendment has been approved by both legislative Houses of the Parliament of ItalyParliament of Italy
The Parliament of Italy is the national parliament of Italy. It is a bicameral legislature with 945 elected members . The Chamber of Deputies, with 630 members is the lower house. The Senate of the Republic is the upper house and has 315 members .Since 2005, a party list electoral law is being...
(the Italian Chamber of Deputies
Italian Chamber of Deputies
The Italian Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Parliament of Italy. It has 630 seats, a plurality of which is controlled presently by liberal-conservative party People of Freedom. Twelve deputies represent Italian citizens outside of Italy. Deputies meet in the Palazzo Montecitorio. A...
and Italian Senate
Italian Senate
The Senate of the Republic is the upper house of the Italian Parliament. It was established in its current form on 8 May 1948, but previously existed during the Kingdom of Italy as Senato del Regno , itself a continuation of the Senato Subalpino of Sardinia-Piedmont established on 8 May 1848...
) with a majority of less than two thirds in both or either Chamber, and only at the request of one fifth of the members of either House, or 500,000 electors or five regional councils.
In contrast to the popular referendums, the constitutional referendum is confirmatory. This means a "yes" vote means you want to retain the law, whereas voting "yes" in a popular referendum means you want to abolish the law.
In addition, a constitutional referendum is not subject to a quorum and is valid regardless of how many electors go to the polling station.
Other referendums
The first further variation was the one-of-a-kind institutional referendum in 1946, before the constitution was written, in which voters had to choose between retaining the monarchyKingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
or establishing a republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
. The republic won by a narrow margin.
The second variation was a consultative referendum held in 1989 in which voters had to express their opinion about conferring a constitutional-drafting role to the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
. The referendum was held after an ad hoc Constitutional law was adopted.
During the '90s, various law allowing local referendums were approved. Since then, many municipal referendums were called in various cities. A quorum
Quorum
A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly necessary to conduct the business of that group...
is generally necessary to approve a local referendum, but it is usually lower than the national quorum, a third of the electors sometimes needing to validate the referendum.
Italians living abroad
Italian citizens living outside of Italy have always had the right to vote in all referendums and elections being held in Italy (provided they had registered their residence abroad with their relevant consulate). However until late 2001, any citizen wishing to vote, was required to physically return to the city or town in Italy where he or she was registered on the electoral roll. The only exception to this rule was for the Italian elections to the European parliamentEuropean Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
in which voters could cast their ballot at their nearest consulate but only if they had their residence in one of the other 14 EU countries.
Until 2001 the Italian state offered citizens living abroad a free return train journey to their home town in Italy in order to vote, however the portion of the train journey that was free of charge was only on Italian soil. Any costs incurred in getting from their place of residence abroad to the Italian border had to be covered by the citizen wanting to vote, therefore a free return train journey was hardly an incentive
Incentive
In economics and sociology, an incentive is any factor that enables or motivates a particular course of action, or counts as a reason for preferring one choice to the alternatives. It is an expectation that encourages people to behave in a certain way...
for the large Italian communities living as far away as in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
or Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. For this reason very few Italians abroad made use of this right to vote, unless they lived in cities and towns that bordered to Italy such as in Germany, Switzerland, France and Austria. Various Italian minorities living abroad (notably in the United States) protested frequently at this lack of political representation especially if they paid taxes on property owned in Italy.
After decades of petitioning and fierce debate, the Italian government, in late 2001, finally passed a law allowing Italian citizens living abroad to vote in elections in Italy by postal ballot. Italians wishing to excise this right must first register their residence abroad with their relevant consulate. The first referendum voted on by Italians living aboard by postal ballot was in 2003.
List of referendums
Overall, the Italians were called to decide on 66 referendum questions on national topic. They approved 24 of them, rejected 17 and invalidated 27.Referendum on the form of State
- Italian referendum, 1946Birth of the Italian RepublicThe Italian constitutional referendum which officially took place on 2 June 1946, is a key event of Italian contemporary history. Until 1946, Italy was a kingdom ruled by the House of Savoy, kings of Italy since the Risorgimento and previously rulers of Savoy...
- retaining the Italian monarchyKingdom of Italy (1861–1946)The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
or establishing a republicRepublicA republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
- republican victory
Popular referendums
- Italian referendum, 1974Italian referendum, 1974The nationwide Italian referendum on the right to divorce was held on the 12 May 1974. Voters were asked whether they wanted to repeal a government law passed three years earlier allowing divorce for the first time in modern Italian history...
- abrogation of the possibility of divorce - rejected - Italian referendums, 1978Italian referendums, 1978Two nationwide referendums were held in Italy on 11 June 1978. Both were rejected by the electors.-Police powers referendum:A first referendum was held about the Reale Law, which had been approved by the Parliament in 1975 and defined the powers and engagement of the Italian police during riots or...
- 2 questions - all rejected - Italian referendums, 1981Italian referendums, 1981Five nationwide referendums were held in Italy on 17 May 1978. All were rejected by the electors.-Abortion referendums:Two opposite referendums were held about the new Law 194, which had legalized the abortion in Italy...
- 2 questions on abortion (one for increasing and the other for reducing possibilities) and 3 question about other rules - all rejected - Italian referendum, 1985Italian referendum, 1985The nationwide Italian referendum on the "sliding scale" was held on 9 June 1985. The economic word "sliding scale" indicated the automatic growth of the salaries of the Italian workers at the same rate of the monetary inflation. This mechanisms was accused to be one of the causes of the big...
- abrogation of the act that reduced some points of sliding scale feesSliding scale feesSliding scale fees are variable costs for products, services, or taxes based on one's ability to pay. Such fees are thereby reduced for those who have lower incomes or less money to spare after their personal expenses, regardless of income....
- rejected - Italian referendums, 1987Italian nuclear power referendum, 1987Five nationwide popular referendums were held in Italy on 8 November 1987, with three questions about nuclear energy after the Chernobyl disaster, and two questions about justice. Voting day had been postponed of six months, according to the Italian Constitution, because of the snap election of...
- 3 questions on abrogation of laws about nuclear power in Italy and 2 about other rules - all approved - Italian referendum, 1990 - 3 questions on hunting and use of pesticides - all rejected
- Italian referendum, 1991 - only pleference (rather than triple) to elect the representatives of the House of Deputies - approved
- Italian referendums, 1993 - 8 questions on modifiying the Senate electoral law; abolishing public financing of political parties, the abolition of certain ministries and other rules - all approved
- Italian referendums, 1995 - 12 questions on various topics - 5 questions approved, 7 rejected
- Italian referendums, 1997 - 7 questions on various topics - quorum not met
- Italian referendum, 1999 - full abrogation of proportional system - quorum not met
- Italian referendums, 2000 - 7 questions on various topics - quorum not met
- Italian referendums, 2003 - 2 questions - quorum not met
- Italian referendums, 2005 - 4 questions on abrogation of the rules that prevent some conduct in research on stem cells, artificial insemination and IVF - quorum not met
- Italian referendums, 2009Italian electoral law referendum, 2009Three referendums on reforming the electoral law were held in Italy on 21-22 June 2009. They were promoted by Mario Segni, Giovanni Guzzetta, Arturo Parisi, Antonio Martino and Daniele Capezzone...
- 3 questions on changes to the electoral law - quorum not met - Italian referendums, 2011 - 4 questions on abrogation of rules governing the following: reliance on private management of water services, return on capital invested in water services, building nuclear power plants in Italy, legitimate impediment of the President of the Council of Ministers and the Ministers to appear in penal hearings - all approved
Constitutional referendums
- Italian constitutional referendum, 2001 - increase of power to the Regions - approved
- Italian constitutional referendum, 2006 - completing of devolution began in 2001, introduction of the Premiership, ending of perfect bicameralism, reducing number of the parliamenarians, increase stability of the governments (in Italy there were more than 60 governments since 1946), obbligation to use constitutional referendum to approve constitutional reforms (before, if 2/3 of parliament approved the reform, the referendum did not take place), light changes to the composition of the Constitutional Court. - rejected
Consultative referendum
- Italian consultative referendum, 1989 - non-binding referendum on increase the European Parliament's power - approved